Taiwanese teacher faces deportation in Indonesia: police

INCONSISTENCIES:Twenty foreign teachers at a school in Jakarta are teaching kindergarten, but their paperwork says they work in high school

Staff writer, with CNA

A Taiwanese woman teaching at a school in Indonesia could be deported along with the school’s other foreign educators because of false data on their resident certificates, but a lawyer on Friday said that the teachers did not violate any regulations.

Bambang Permadi, who heads the South Jakarta immigration office’s supervision and enforcement division, said on Thursday that the 20 foreigners working at Jakarta International School (JIS) are teaching kindergarten, but their resident certificates indicate they work in the high school program.

According to Jakarta police, the foreigners violated Indonesia’s immigration regulations and are to be deported next month to their home countries.

They come from the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan, police said.

The only Taiwanese on the deportation list was described by Taiwanese expatriates living in Jakarta as having worked in the JIS kindergarten for many years and rated highly by parents.

Harry Pontoh, a lawyer hired by the school to handle the case, told Indonesian media that there is no question of deportation, because the teachers did not violate any immigration regulations.

The teachers’ resident certificates were applied for based on Indonesian regulations and they have worked at the JIS for many years, Pontoh said.

However, the school’s management declined to comment on the case, saying only that the school is still negotiating with the relevant authorities.

The school also declined to disclose the Taiwanese teacher’s name and any other personal information to protect her privacy.

Sources familiar with the case said that Taiwan’s representative office in Indonesia has been informed of the matter. The teacher has also written to the office seeking help, they said.